clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NCAA Tournament 2015: Bracket, TV schedule and live streaming for Friday's Sweet 16 action

What happened Thursday night and how and what to watch for Friday's March Madness games

By Oscar Gamble
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Thursday Recap

NCAA Sweet 16:

Starting in reverse order:

Must Reads

GIF Session: Sweet 16

Jack Peglow

March Madness keeps chuggin' right along. Whether you're ready for it or not, the Sweet 16 is HERE. Having trouble remembering how each team got here? No worries, we whipped up a quick animated reminder to jog your memory!

Must Reads

GIF Session: Sweet 16

The Arizona Wildcats pulled held on to defeat Xavier, 68-60 in the late contest featuring the goofy yet talented Matt Stainbrook. I'm Uber-excited to no longer have to deal with this blatant corporate sponsorship and no I don't understand the concept of irony because I learned it from Alanis Morrisette.

Kentucky stomped West Virginia in a 78-39 rout that was over maybe ten minutes into the first half; a scorched earth campaign perhaps prompted by WVU guard Daxter Miles Jr.'s comment, "I give them props. Salute to getting to 36-0. But tomorrow they're gonna be 36-1."

Devin Booker, your thoughts?

To add salt to the wound, Sportscenter tweeted this out:

Kentucky on a mission is scary good. The trail of destruction so far:

  • UK 78 - 39 WVU
  • UK 77 - 43 South Carolina
  • UK 86 - 37 Mizzou
  • UK 83 - 44 UCLA
  • UK 72 - 40 Kansas

Probably the most anticipated matchup saw Bo Ryan's Wisconsin Badgers on the ropes to Roy Williams' North Carolina Tarheels for most of the game before pulling out the 79-72 win. UNC was able to play their up-tempo game, shoot 47% from the floor and hit 8 of their 13 three pointers, but they were ultimately unable to get enough out of injured big man Kennedy Meeks and Wisconsin's Sam Dekker complimented Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky with a career best 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Damn replicants running loose.

Finally, the first game of the night saw Wichita State's season end at the hands of a solid Notre Dame squad, 81-70. The Shockers were able to prevent trigger-man Jerian Grant from going off, but the Fighting Irish hit 17 of 22 shots in the second half to pull away. The real story was about the coach on the sideline and whether Gregg Marshall had finally received an offer from Alabama crazy enough to pull him out of Wichita. Marshall has been an incredibly successful coach, turning in regular deep NCAA tournament runs:

If he does end up leaving for Alabama, I'll admit my frustration in Mizzou being unable to secure his services, which isn't necessarily a knock on Kim Anderson, just an acknowledgement of incredible success.

Friday Line Up

Today's match-ups don't entice me like yesterday's, but your mileage may vary.

The opening game sees traditional blue-blood UCLA face traditional cinderella Gonzaga, the latter led by Kyle Wiltjer, a 6'10 Kentucky transfer who apparently couldn't crack their rotation but is leading the Bulldogs with 17 points and 6 rebounds. I turn green with envy as I wonder if Mizzou will ever have another post with that kind of impact. But I digress, I didn't think UCLA deserved their bid and despite this being a revenge match from their previous run-in, I think the Bruins' season ends today.

Must Reads

Sweet 16 Picks: The Lazy Fan's Guide Returns

HHKB Chris

Are you in a second chance bracket and all turned around? Well kristina and I are back to help you through this difficult process.

Must Reads

Sweet 16 Picks: The Lazy Fan's Guide Returns

North Carolina State vs Louisville finds two teams who many probably didn't expect to make it this far, but the all ACC matchup looks like the most interesting game of the evening as Mark Gottfried attempts to double down on the Pack's conference road win against the Cardinals. I think it's easy for casual fans to forget how tough Rick Pitino coached teams are, this being their fourth straight Sweet 16 game. I have Louisville advancing because Montrezl Harrell dunks are cool and Jack Peglow destiny says they'll meet Kentucky in the championship game.

The Utah Utes vs the Duke Blue Devils, red vs blue, Coach K(rystkowiak) vs Coach K(rzyzewski) is actually my pick for the upset of the night. Duke is a solid team with Quin Cook and Justise Winslow (awesome name, btw) on the outside, but Jakob Poeltl is a legit 7 footer down low who may be able to matchup against Jahlil Okafor and really I'm just trying to talk myself into an upset because come on it's Duke who doesn't like to see them upset?

The Fighting Tom Izzos from Michigan State advance to yet another Sweet 16 with an underrated team. No this isn't copy/paste from 2012, 2013 or 2014. The Spartans catch a team Mizzou saw during it's non-conference in Lon Kruger's Oklahoma Sooners and no I'm not bitter but I'll be rooting #SpartyYes!

Brackets

If you haven't joined the SB Nation Real time Bracket challenge, it's probably too late, but if you're in Rock M Nation's traditional pool and your name isn't Mori23 you're probably losing to my wife or I.

Live streaming

March Madness Live

Requires a provider login, but you can watch every game from desktop, tablet or mobile phone.

TV Schedule

Here's the full schedule of Friday's games (All times are Eastern Time Zone):

Sweet Sixteen Games
Friday, March 27 (ET)
Tip (ET) Network Site Game Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
7:15 p.m. CBS Houston I Gonzaga Bulldogs vs UCLA Bruins Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson
7:47 p.m. TBS Syracuse I Louisville vs NC State Wolfpack Lundquist/Spanarkel/LaForce
After conc. I CBS Houston II Duke Blue Devils vs Utah Utes Nantz/Raftery/Hill/Wolfson
After conc. I TBS Syracuse II Michigan State Spartans vs Oklahoma Sooners Lundquist/Spanarkel/LaForce
Saturday's NCAA regional finals on TBS (Central time):
5:09: Wisconsin vs. Arizona/Xavier
7:49: Kentucky vs. Notre Dame

Mizzou Women's season comes to an end

It was only a matter of time before this over-achieving group couldn't get enough shots to fall (only 6 for 27 from 3 point range), but if they stay healthy they return a loaded squad that should be able to build on three consecutive WNIT tournaments and solid recruiting. Congrats on the strong season ladies, looking forward to next year!

Next Up In Live Threads